Seismic indirect economic loss not only has a major impact on regional economic recovery policies, but also related to the economic assistance at the national level. Due to the Cross-regional economic activities and the difficulty of obtaining data, it's difficult that the indirect economic loss survey covers all economic activities. However, night-time light in an area can reflect the economic activity of the region. This paper focuses on the indirect economic losses caused by the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 and evaluated the progress of restoration and reconstruction based on night-time light Images. First, the functional relationship between GDP and night-time light parameters was established based on the pre-earthquake data. Next, the indirect loss of the earthquake was evaluated by the night-time light attenuation in the disaster area after the earthquake. Then, the capacity recovery, which is characterized by the brightness recovery process of the light area, was evaluated. Lastly, the process of light expansion in the disaster area was analyzed to evaluate the economic expansion speed and efficiency.

The way that persons from different age groups experience “white light” is investigated. Human eye lens transmission changes spectrally with age and this may influence the way that humans from different ages experiences light. Such a difference may be important in industrial and medical environments. Two different age groups, one group younger than 40 years of age and another group older than 50 years of age were subjected to the same “white” definition task.A conventional single-booth setup was used where observers were able to adjust the intensity of four coloured LED’s.Results of the psychophysical test procedure were used to generate specifications of two light sources, as selected by the two age groups. The two age groups selected different light sources when tasked to achieve a “perception” of white. Results show that the older group prefers a source with a colour rendering index number of 89 and the younger group prefers a source with a colour rendering index number of 74. The sources selectedby the two age groups specifycorrelated colour temperature values of 5150 K for the older age group and 6592 K for the younger group.

The light pollution levels experienced at any given site generally depend on a wide number of artificial light sources distributed throughout the surrounding territory. Since photons can travel long distances before being scattered by the atmosphere, any effective proposal for reducing local light pollution levels needs an accurate assessment of the relative weight of all intervening light sources, including those located tens or even hundreds of km away. In this paper we describe several ways of quantifying and visualizing these relative weights. Particular emphasis is made on the aggregate contribution of the municipalities, which are -in many regions of the world- the administrative bodies primarily responsible for the planning and maintenance of public outdoor lighting systems.

Insulin resistance is a main determinant in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus and a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The circadian timing system consists of a central brain clock in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus and various peripheral tissue clocks. The circadian timing system is responsible for the coordination of many daily processes, including the daily rhythm in human glucose metabolism. The central clock regulates food intake, energy expenditure and whole-body insulin sensitivity, and these actions are further fine-tuned by local peripheral clocks. For instance, the peripheral clock in the gut regulates glucose absorption, peripheral clocks in muscle, adipose tissue and liver regulate local insulin sensitivity, and the peripheral clock in the pancreas regulates insulin secretion. Misalignment between different components of the circadian timing system and daily rhythms of sleep-wake behaviour or food intake as a result of genetic, environmental or behavioural factors might be an important contributor to the development of insulin resistance. Specifically, clock gene mutations, exposure to artificial light-dark cycles, disturbed sleep, shift work and social jet lag are factors that might contribute to circadian disruption. Here, we review the physiological links between circadian clocks, glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity, and present current evidence for a relationship between circadian disruption and insulin resistance. We conclude by proposing several strategies that aim to use chronobiological knowledge to improve human metabolic health.

There are at least 173,724 streetlights in the city of Houston, or about 15 streetlights per mile of roadway in the average Houston neighborhood. But there is wide variation in streetlight density across those neighborhoods. This report offers several important findings. First, black and Hispanic neighborhoods have higher concentrations of streetlights than white neighborhoods. Second, mixed-income neighborhoods tend to have higher concentrations of streetlights than the city’s wealthiest and poorest neighborhoods.

In the context of this discussion, we should consider the possibility that some areas of the city are overly lit in addition to being concerned about the places without enough lights. There may be a point at which having more lights actually becomes a negative. We need to get a better understanding of the lived consequences of the level of available lighting before making any further decisions regarding city streetlights.